Kambur O, et al. - Researchers investigated the influence of variation within the P2RX7 gene, which encodes the P2X7 receptor, on the experimentally induced pain in human patients. They assessed experimental pain in Tromsø 6, a longitudinal and cross-sectional population-based study (N = 3,016), and the BrePainGen cohort, consisting of patients who underwent breast cancer surgery (N = 831). Effects of single-nucleotide polymorphisms rs208294 and rs208296 were also examined. The meta-analysis of both cohorts showed that Rs7958311 was associated with experimental pain intensity. Significant associations for multisite pain and postoperative pain was also noted. Results thereby provide support to the existing evidence and suggest that P2X7 and genetic variation in the P2RX7-gene may be involved in the modulation of human pain sensitivity.